52 Buttons Blog

It's summer here in Japan so stone fruits are back in season. Peaches, plums and of course, cherries. The buttons that make up this ring come from completely different places but together, they remind me of cherry pie and a little slice of summer!

I found the red button on one of my first visits to the Rollo store in Kyoto. It's made of moulded plastic and has a pearly finish. I love its bubbly surface and I haven't seen many other buttons quite like this one. It reminds me of the raspberry jelly lollies I used to eat when I was a kid. The kind you'd always get in a birthday party bag!

The little cherry button came from Taylors Buttons in London. (I'll be posting more about amazing store soon!) The button is made of mother of pearl. The cherry image has been transferred onto the front and the whole button has been coated with a shiny lacquer finish.

This ring was pretty easy to make. I glued the two buttons together first and then attached a silver ring to the back of the red button. Even though these buttons are quite different in style, I think they suit each other, a bit like cherry pie and ice cream.

This button really reminds me of jelly! I found it at Rollo and was immediately drawn to it's shape, colour and lightness. The button is acrylic with a soft pink colour. It has flecks of gold painted on the back that catch the light and make it glow!

Recently, I've been watching Downton Abbey and I think this jelly button looks a little like something they might have served for dessert! In Edwardian times, jelly was a dish for special occasions, sometimes made to be the centrepiece of the table. Jellies were made in a variety of bright colours and moulded into intricate forms using copper moulds. After I made this ring, I started looking at some pictures of the antique moulds used to make these kind of jellies. The design and shape of the moulds are beautiful and quite detailed.

However special jelly was then, today it's kind of an ordinary dessert. But most of all, it reminds me of being a kid - a birthday party treat we used to eat with ice cream! I also remember it being just about the only good thing about getting sick - being allowed to each a lot of jelly as you got better again!

Sadly this ring doesn't wobble like the real thing but its a lot of fun to wear all the same! I made it by saw piercing a brass disc and then gluing it to the base of the button. After that, I glued the ring onto the brass disc. I think this button works really well as a ring because you can enjoy looking at it from different angles.

Do you remember making jelly as a kid? If you're an Aussie like me, it was probably Aeroplane Jelly! What was your favourite flavour?